ESPN's Dan Dakich scheduled to work Iowa-Wisconsin

Iowa and Wisconsin meet on the basketball court for the second time in 12 days Saturday in Iowa City, and Dan Dakich is also scheduled for a return engagement according to an ESPN release Monday.

Dakich caught the ire of Iowa coach Fran McCaffery for his criticism of Iowa center Adam Woodbury during the telecast of the Badgers' 32-point victory on Jan. 20. Replays showed Woodbury caught both the Badgers' Nigel Hayes and Frank Kaminsky with a finger to the eye.

Dakich, a former player at Indiana and later a college coach, said on the air that he thought the act was deliberate and Woodbury should be suspended. Dakich called Woodbury's actions "complete garbage." He added, "That's as cowardly as you can be — to hit a guy from behind or poke a guy in the face."

Woodbury said a day after the incident that it was an accident.

"I try to play hard and tough every time I take the court," Woodbury said. "In no way did I go out there with the intention to hurt someone. That's not who I am. I might be a lot of things, but I am not a coward and I was not deliberately trying to poke anyone in the eye."

McCaffery voiced his displeasure with Dakich's comments after the game, saying, "There is absolutely no way Adam Woodbury did that on purpose. Dan Dakich is completely out of line. He crossed the line. He is not right. It was an accident."

Woodbury said after Saturday's loss at Purdue that he had no idea he was in the middle of a controversy until Wednesday morning.

"I had a bunch of missed calls, a bunch of texts. I saw what he said, and it is what it is," Woodbury said. "I've moved on, I think he's moved on. People are hopefully going to forget about this in the next few days."

McCaffery spent a portion of his weekly radio show Wednesday evening defending Woodbury and teeing off on Dakich.

"Dan Dakich is so far out of line," McCaffery said. "He's just lost it on this one. He doesn't know Adam Woodbury. For him to say the reprehensible things he said about an amateur athlete, it's inexcusable. Absolutely inexcusable that his network would allow him to say those kinds of things about a guy he doesn't know."

According to the ESPN release, Dakich will be joined by play-by-play voice Bob Wischusen for the 11 a.m. game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.